Disappointed Haven player-coach Craig Calvert was ruing his side's missed opportunities after they slipped closer to relegation with a 30-10 loss against Halifax.

Poor finishing and weak defence contributed to a defeat that leaves Whitehaven staring at relegation. And Calvert was also let down by what he thought was a "shocking" performance from the referee.

The temporary coaching quartet of Calvert, Scott McAvoy, Dave Allen and Carl Forster had led the side to victory over rivals Workington last week but they weren't "clinical" enough to see off Halifax.

"I'm just a bit disappointed really, especially with the first half. We had a lot of opportunites to score points but it was just silly errors. We weren't making the right passes and we just kept on blowing tries," said Calvert.

"Halifax were only in our half a couple of times in the first half but they just kept being clinical when they had to be and kept finishing the tries.

"We weren't clinical enough today, I thought they came here with a good game plan. I thought putting Tangata on the edge proved very hard to control."

Adam Tangata put in a lively performance as the Yorkshire club saw off Haven by five tries to two. Winger Nick Rawsthorne also produced an impressive display to finish the game with 14 points.

Whitehaven had gone into the half-time interval trailing 18-4 but came out fighting and were on top for long periods in the second half. However, Calvert wasn't pleased with the side in attack and defence.

He said: "It was just the last pass that wasn't good enough. I wasn't too pleased with the defence I think one on one misses are poor. First contact wasn't good enough so we need to fix that for next week.

"There are positives to take from today, I thought that our shape was great."

And Calvert also had scathing words for the referee - Tom Grant. Dave Allen was sinbinned late on in the game, which perplexed both fans and players. As frustrations boiled over he looked to have questioned the decision of referee Tom Grant not to award a penalty against Halifax for obstruction.

"I think he's a poor referee, it was the same last time we played Halifax and he just seemed to be getting them back in the game," said Calvert.

"I thought some of the penalties that he gave were absolutely shocking."

Whitehaven are now five points from safety after relegation-threatened Swinton triumphed 19-12 over fellow strugglers Workington. They travel to Dewsbury next Sunday (September 4) knowing that a victory is essential if they are to have any chance of remaining in the Championship next season.